Consumption never stops, possibly the object of consumption or the purpose of consumption might undergo a change, but if one carefully notices, consumer always look for substitutes.

One might not spend Rs. 75000/- on a Goa holiday, but Rs. 35000/- on a Corbett holiday...possibly could. One might definitely go for buying a Car, possibly an upgraded version as carmakers slash prices during these times. I may not go out for dinner twice a month but possibly once a month, or may be if my budget for dinner out is Rs. 4000/-, I will cut it to 3000/- but stilll go out twice a month to another restaurant more affordable.

For marketers there is no better time than recession to go to their target consumer. The consumer listens with more patience and attention, and rewards the marketer sooner or later.

There is a growing need for all to rotate cash in financial system, and consumer is always the center of all activity. Whether banks offer cheaper loans or whether car-makers offer higher discounts or whether consumer durables mfr offer better EMI schemes or whether Club Mahindra offers lucrative holiday deals, there are always different groups of people working hard to generate and rotate cash.

There is another side to this story. Possibly guys in metros are more affected because a higher percentage of people work with Private sectors or MNCs, while in Class B or C cities, Govt sector is the major employer, whose employees anyways are not greatly affected. Even if, sadly, a few hundreds or thousands in Metros lose their jobs for a while, it is not dampener for the marketers.

And Indians being risk-averse, even those in plush jobs in metros have enough cash in savings. And still today many of us working class do not invest heavily in stock market, so the market-driven losses are also much less than generally imagined.

And those who used to save money do so more in these times, which can be tapped by the discerning marketers in a way that can give truly honest value for money to the consumers.

So, marketers need to re-lolok at their offering, and re-work their strategy, keeping honesty and value-delivery at the sore of their offerings.